Interestingly, you can get the benefits to your credit rating without actually using the card at all (beyond the couple transactions per year required to keep t

Interestingly, you can get the benefits to your credit rating without actually using the card at all (beyond the couple transactions per year required to keep the account active). In fact, this is an optimal strategy: One of the factors in your credit rating is how much of your available credit you use. Bizarrely, even if you pay your balance in full every month, a large balance:limit ratio still counts against you. So spending no money is better than having enough income to spend lots of money without holding debt long term. If you want to put all your spending through the card for the side-effects without being penalized for using too much money responsibly, you have to pay down your balance before the billing date. Basically: credit ratings are crazy bullshit.